Braves quotes after their 2-1 victory over the Diamondbacks in 10 innings Sunday at Turner Field.
**FREDI GONZALEZ
On Shelby Miller
“That’s the only way you can describe him: Fantastic. And he doesn’t get a decision. He was nails. He walks the first two hitters of the game and then he was great after that. What else can you say? We won the series. In the eighth, (Cameron) Maybin gets that ball in right-center field to end the inning and then all of a sudden in the bottom of the frame he hits a game-winning home run and gets us a series win and gets us on the plane with a win under our belt.”
On Maybin coming up with big hits this season
“He’s been great. Terrific. He’s had a hell of a year so far. I know there’s many, many games to be played. This guy can defend. Two days ago we were talking about how much he impacts the game and defensively. He can do a lot of things. He can steal you a bag, hit a double and if you make a mistake run you out of the ballpark.”
On if he had an idea how long he would let Miller go with the no-hitter
“I think you know you let him go until you get to a situation—I think we did it last year with (Aaron) Harang—where you start getting crazy numbers pitch-count wise, then you make a decision when that happens. I didn’t’ have one in my mind, I was just watching. But with the lack of pitching out there—the lack of top-line pitching out there—you’d hate for him to go out there trying to chase a no-hitter and crank up 150 pitches. I know he told me in high school he threw 160 pitches twice but I’m not doing that one here in the major leagues.”
On if Miller told him that today
“No, he tells me (before) every start.”
On Peter Moylan’s return
“Two years since he came up in the big leagues and here we’ve got to use him in a leverage inning. Nice to see him. If you match him up right … you look at the reports and his velocity is up and he’s healthy, give him a chance.”
On if the team added Edwin Jackson and Moylan for more experience in the bullpen
“I think so, and to help some of the younger guys.”
**SHELBY MILLER
On his outing
“Obviously I got kind of lucky on one of those (defensive) plays. It was a good win for the team. I tip my cap to the defense. We had a ton of good plays that kept the no-hitter going into the seventh. Fun day for all of us.”
On when he started thinking about the no-hitter
“You know what’s going on the whole time. I’m going out there every time and trying to put up zeroes. At the end of the day we got a win, and that’s awesome. The D-Backs have been playing great coming in and to win the series is great. Looking forward to going into San Diego and win some games there, as well.”
On if today felt similar to when he took a no-hitter into the ninth at Miami
“It felt good. I was just trying to go out there and pitch. I know what that offense is capable of, how good they are, and how tough it is to pull that (no-hitter) through. I’m trying to focus on pitch-by-pitch, out-by-out and put up zeros.”
On telling Gonzalez he’s thrown 160 pitches before
“I have. I think I’ve thrown 160 pitches in a high school game one time. I’m constantly reminding him of that he if wants me to go that deep. No, obviously Fredi knows what he’s doing as a manager. I kind of knew when I gave up that hit to Salty I was coming out. Our bullpen came in and did a great job and with Cam hitting the homer is huge. Great walk-off win for us.”
**CAMERON MAYBIN
On his walk-off home run
“It was a big win. Shelby again goes out and does a good job and gave us a chance to be in another game. We did a great job of competing and grinding. I put a good swing on a two-strike pitch. I was just trying put the ball in play and give Nick (Markakis) and A.J. (Pierzynski) a chance to drive somebody in. I got rewarded for not trying to do too much. Good win (now) going on the road to play two teams playing pretty good baseball. A good way to win this homestand.”
On winning the series
“That’s what it’s about, winning the series. Whenever you can get sweep, great, but the main objective is to win as many series as you can and usually you will end up in a good situation at the end of the year. We’ve got to continue to grind, continue to pick each other up, continue to believe. We still feel there’s time. Sometimes teams get on hot streaks and hopefully this is the beginning of a hot streak.”
**PETER MOYLAN
On his return to the big leagues
“For me, this is more fulfilling than being called up for the first time after everything that has happened over the last four or five years. It’s been a long road.”
On if he appreciates it more this time
“So much more. The amount of work I’ve put in the next 18 months, to get that call this morning is incredible.”
On getting thrown right in the fire
“I love it. If I had to sit any longer than I did I don’t know if I would have been able to handle it. I like to get that one out of the way and now I can move on.”
